A rowdy-sheeter surrendered before the police on Thursday night claiming involvement in the January 24 killing of Telugu Desam Party member of Legislative Assembly Paritala Ravi.
Vallupalli Rekamaiah, who is a history-sheeter under the Hanwada police station limits of Mahbubnagar district, gave himself up before Mahbubnagar Deputy Superintendent of Police K Anjaneyulu around 2145 IST.
Rekamaiah confessed to his involvement in an interview to a Telugu TV channel just before his surrender. He named Obul Reddy and Bhaskar Reddy of Anantapur district and Narayana Redy and Srinivas Reddy of Mahbubnagar as his accomplices. He claimed that the murder was committed at the behest of Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy, alias Suri, an archrival of Ravi.
Suri is serving life imprisonment in Cherlapalli central jail in Hyderabad in connection with the Jubilee Hills car bomb blast incident in November 1997. The explosion had claimed 26 lives, but Paritala Ravi, the prime target, escaped unhurt.
Superintendent of Police Vikram Singh Mann said Rekamaiah, of Puliponipalli village, went to a local advocate N P Venkatesh, who brought him to the police.
"He claimed to be one of those involved in the murder case. He also claimed that eight to 10 people had hatched the conspiracy. We are cross-checking the information about his confession," the SP said.
Meanwhile, the Andhra Pradesh police have arrested 2,000 Telugu Desam Party activists in connection with large-scale arson and violence across the state following the killing of MLA.
They have also registered 440 criminal cases. Several prominent TDP leaders, including some members of Parliament and Legislative Assembly and former ministers, have been listed as accused in these cases.
The cases have been booked for rioting, indulging in destruction of private/public properties and causing hurt to people under various sections of the Indian Penal Code.
The police launched a crackdown on TDP activists after booking cases against them for burning 86 RTC buses, damaging 442 buses and other vehicles, attacking 70 government properties and the houses/other properties of 18 Congress leaders and assaulting 12 Congress activists and two policemen.
Madanapalle circle inspector of police and Amalapuram sub-inspector of police sustained injuries in the violence on January 24 and 25.